tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23775017729140542122017-08-06T04:26:17.292-07:00Random Writingsof my life, my thoughts, and faithMaDonna Maurerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04157381592556792198noreply@blogger.comBlogger206125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2377501772914054212.post-72565414978755744442012-12-03T05:39:00.000-08:002012-12-03T05:39:24.024-08:00Xiao Liu Qiu<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-kyk4PCI5jhU/ULyp7THVyYI/AAAAAAAABZ0/QMSOw60mnKs/s1600/IMG_4051.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-kyk4PCI5jhU/ULyp7THVyYI/AAAAAAAABZ0/QMSOw60mnKs/s320/IMG_4051.JPG" width="320" /></a>We had a <a href="http://raisingtcks.com/2012/11/22/nontraditional-holiday-why-not/" target="_blank">nontraditional Thanksgiving </a>this year. It was a nice change from the years past. You can click <a href="http://raisingtcks.com/2012/11/22/nontraditional-holiday-why-not/" target="_blank">here </a>if you want to read about why decided not to have turkey, pumpkin pie, sweet potato&nbsp;souffle&nbsp;and all the other Thanksgiving traditions.<br /><br />We traveled to&nbsp;Xiao Liu Qiu which is located off the southwestern coast of <a class="zem_slink" href="http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=23.7666666667,121.0&amp;spn=2.5,2.5&amp;q=23.7666666667,121.0%20(Taiwan)&amp;t=h" rel="geolocation" target="_blank" title="Taiwan">Taiwan</a>. The island's name means "Little Okinawa". As most of you know we work for <a href="http://taiwansunshine.wordpress.com/" target="_blank">Taiwan Sunshine</a>, who puts on <a href="http://taiwansunshine.wordpress.com/i-am-a-hero-games/" target="_blank">"I Am a Hero Games"</a> for children with special needs. <a class="zem_slink" href="http://www.mca.org.tw/" rel="homepage" target="_blank" title="Morrison Academy">Morrison Academy</a> Kaohsiung hosted a game right before Thanksgiving. So we decided to just go on a mini-vacation since we were already in the area.<br /><br />For those of you interested in going...<br /><i><b>Getting There:</b></i><br />Dong Gang is the harbor city that you will take a ferry from. There is a long-stay car park right next to the ferry entrance. We did this, though we were a bit hesitant at first. Just know that you will leave your keys with the attendants and they will drive your car to a different location. We had no problems - <i>though who would really want to steal our van?</i><br />The ferry was only a 25 minute ride that was fairly calm both trips. For prices and a timetable click <a href="http://www.search-results.com/web?qsrc=2417&amp;o=100000048&amp;l=dis&amp;q=xiao+liu+qiu&amp;atb=sysid%3D406%3Aappid%3D102%3Auid%3Dc5e5d6278ef3e381%3Auc%3D1319684377%3Aq%3Ddong+gang+ferry%3Asrc%3Dcrb%3Ao%3D100000048%3Ab%3DSearchqu&amp;locale=en_US" target="_blank">here</a>.<br /><b><i>Where to stay:</i></b><br />There are a few small hotels around the island. We stayed in one called 好喝 (Hao He). It was simple, but very clean. The best way to contact them is by phone 08-814148<br />There was also other places to stay. <a href="http://liuqiu.pthg.gov.tw/" target="_blank">Here </a>is a listing from the Xiao Liu Qiu website.<br /><i><b>How to get around</b></i>:<br />Scooter is really the best way. You can rent scooters all over. There are quite a few rental places right by the ferry. I was impressed that they also had electric scooter rentals as well. There are four battery charging places located around the island, mainly located by local attractions. A scooter license is not needed for the regular scooters, but one is needed for the electric kind.<br />Another option is to bike. I didn't see any bike rentals, but that doesn't mean they didn't have them. I did see people biking, but I believe they brought their own over on the ferry. Just note that the island is not flat.<br /><b><i>What to do:</i></b><br />Lots to do for families with older children. It is doable with younger children, but just note that you may not be able to do everything. To give you an idea, though here is:<br /><b><i>Our Top 10 Things to do:</i></b><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-O5FGnZ7Esg4/ULypsYMQpBI/AAAAAAAABZs/b-zyrprbR2M/s1600/IMG_4031.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-O5FGnZ7Esg4/ULypsYMQpBI/AAAAAAAABZs/b-zyrprbR2M/s320/IMG_4031.JPG" width="240" /></a>10. "Old Banyan Tree" - it was large, but if you've seen one then you probably have seen them all. Just sayin.<br /><br />9. Lighthouse - This was pretty, but nothing exciting. It was right next to the "Old Banyan Tree".<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-lUsD3tXIQ6k/ULyqMdBxEDI/AAAAAAAABaI/xeS_QTilT3M/s1600/IMG_4161.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-lUsD3tXIQ6k/ULyqMdBxEDI/AAAAAAAABaI/xeS_QTilT3M/s320/IMG_4161.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><br /><br />8.&nbsp;Beauty Cave/Flower Vase Rock - Along the road near Beauty Cave there were signs that read, "Slow down. Crab Crossing". We had hoped to see crabs along this trail, but we didn't. Had we'd seen any crabs, this would have moved up a notch or two on our list. <br />Flower Vase Rock had crabs scurrying around. It was interesting to see this huge corral rock, but other than watch the crabs and pick up corral there wasn't a lot to do.<br /><br /><br /><br />7. Pagoda - It wasn't&nbsp;extraordinary&nbsp;or anything like that. I guess living in Asia, if you've seen one pagoda, then you've pretty much seen them all. Or maybe that is my take on it...but what made this one nice is the location. We could watch turtles swimming in the cove a hundred feet below us. The blue water made it easy for us to spot the black dots swimming from one corral to another.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-GU5WqhpDQdE/ULyqDlTzpeI/AAAAAAAABZ8/wIELs_apsIo/s1600/IMG_4119.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-GU5WqhpDQdE/ULyqDlTzpeI/AAAAAAAABZ8/wIELs_apsIo/s320/IMG_4119.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>6. Scooter rides - It takes about thirty minutes or less to make a complete loop around the island. The kids enjoyed riding with us, especially Jie Jie. We saw a 6-foot long snake on one of our rides...didn't stick around long enough to see what kind, but the kids thought it was cool.<br /><br /><br /><br />5. Beautiful Sunset - It was breathtaking even with clouds in the sky. Kids could care less, but Uwe and I enjoyed it and our vote out-weighs theirs.<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-6uqbaIQ67NI/ULyplmS7ezI/AAAAAAAABZk/zQiNAyPajd8/s1600/IMG_4138.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-6uqbaIQ67NI/ULyplmS7ezI/AAAAAAAABZk/zQiNAyPajd8/s320/IMG_4138.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br /><br />&nbsp;4. Food. We ate at a little restaurant near Flower Vase Rock that had the BEST Chinese food we've had since moving to Taiwan. I'm not joking. I can't remember the name, but they next to a&nbsp;karaoke stand and the second eating place on the right walking away from the Vase. There were a few restaurants that had western food, but think Asian western and then it is okay. Our friends told us about a place with great milkshakes, but either the restaurant changed owners or we didn't find the right place.<br /><br />3. <a href="http://liuqiu.pthg.gov.tw/liuqiu/web_en.php?prog=travel&amp;item=view&amp;area_id=14" target="_blank">Wild Boar Ditch</a> - an eco-friendly hike that was beautiful.<br /><br />2. Snorkeling - Such beautiful fish and sea creatures in crystal clear water. You could see 10-20 feet deep - very nice.<br /><br />1. Swimming with Sea Turtles! Yes, we did. It was unbelievable. One turtle that I personally saw was around 100kg - that was according to the local diver that was with me.<br /><br /><br /><br /><div class="zemanta-pixie" style="height: 15px; margin-top: 10px;"><a class="zemanta-pixie-a" href="http://www.zemanta.com/?px" title="Enhanced by Zemanta"><img alt="Enhanced by Zemanta" class="zemanta-pixie-img" src="http://img.zemanta.com/zemified_e.png?x-id=ab4c4f29-5d83-41f8-897e-cc80b5c94dd1" style="border: none; float: right;" /></a></div>MaDonna Maurerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04157381592556792198noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2377501772914054212.post-17212754838664560162012-08-04T08:37:00.001-07:002012-08-04T08:37:40.710-07:00Life and Fun: Church EventsSummer in the States can be loads of fun without spending lots of money. We didn't venture too far from my mom's home and found fun in the simplest of things. We <a href="http://umdmaurer.blogspot.tw/2012/06/life-and-fun-fishing-and-rodeos.html" target="_blank">fished</a>, rode horses, went to a rodeo, rode in <a href="http://umdmaurer.blogspot.tw/2012/08/life-and-fun-amish-town.html" target="_blank">buggies</a>, played in the parks, and splashed in the <a href="http://umdmaurer.blogspot.tw/2012/08/life-and-fun-parks-wading-pools.html" target="_blank">wading pool</a>. One thing I've not posted about though were the summer events of the churches.<br />Vacation Bible School was always a hit, though we could only attend a few nights.<br />Ice-Cream Social at the park. Yum! Yum!<br />Small Carnival with Kansas City Chief's Casey. <br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-vb6blWjNF7A/UB0-urC-ZLI/AAAAAAAABYU/EkKSzseX5Vw/s1600/IMG_3067.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-vb6blWjNF7A/UB0-urC-ZLI/AAAAAAAABYU/EkKSzseX5Vw/s320/IMG_3067.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-QOCaBNHKgxs/UB0-_N-FyeI/AAAAAAAABYg/3fo7_kzWU4A/s1600/IMG_3069.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-QOCaBNHKgxs/UB0-_N-FyeI/AAAAAAAABYg/3fo7_kzWU4A/s320/IMG_3069.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Fishing Derby...we didn't catch any fish, but had a great time out at the pond. Funny moment: Jie Jie getting her bobber and throwing it out into the pond only minutes after arriving. I think she thought we were feeding them?&nbsp;</div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-nX4wa8N6y64/UB1AJvgdBaI/AAAAAAAABYo/OSOARYCxBDk/s1600/DSC00390.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-nX4wa8N6y64/UB1AJvgdBaI/AAAAAAAABYo/OSOARYCxBDk/s320/DSC00390.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Jie Jie loved fishing. We'd cast and she'd reel in.<br />I bet she sat there for over half an hour. Not sure<br />what she would have done had she gotten a bite.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-L6H-C431C8g/UB1AgW2honI/AAAAAAAABY0/PTaLvhUackc/s1600/IMG_3316.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-L6H-C431C8g/UB1AgW2honI/AAAAAAAABY0/PTaLvhUackc/s320/IMG_3316.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mei Mei still not a fan of standing in the<br />heat, but can you blame her? It was H.O.T.&nbsp;</td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><br />MaDonna Maurerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04157381592556792198noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2377501772914054212.post-25977564481874991952012-08-04T08:17:00.003-07:002012-08-04T08:17:48.723-07:00Life and Fun: Parks & Wading PoolsThis summer was a laid back kind of summer. It was hot and dry in the mid-west, but that didn't hinder our fun at all.<div><br /></div><div>A few mornings before the sun got too warm, we'd go to the small public park where the girls could get rid of some energy.&nbsp;<br /><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-EoGLPPTyGKM/UB0577IrM8I/AAAAAAAABXA/Q48pfYvpJ3g/s1600/IMG_3039.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-EoGLPPTyGKM/UB0577IrM8I/AAAAAAAABXA/Q48pfYvpJ3g/s320/IMG_3039.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-YqCW3rhblTc/UB06NvQmJaI/AAAAAAAABXI/7941PAxad8Y/s1600/IMG_3041.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-YqCW3rhblTc/UB06NvQmJaI/AAAAAAAABXI/7941PAxad8Y/s320/IMG_3041.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-2vDbw279Hq8/UB06diXLOGI/AAAAAAAABXU/X3kRMebf2nU/s1600/IMG_3038.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-2vDbw279Hq8/UB06diXLOGI/AAAAAAAABXU/X3kRMebf2nU/s320/IMG_3038.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-teOqXzGHvRc/UB06v00hkLI/AAAAAAAABXc/91pru4aG4-s/s1600/IMG_3045.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-teOqXzGHvRc/UB06v00hkLI/AAAAAAAABXc/91pru4aG4-s/s320/IMG_3045.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Then after an afternoon rest, we'd get up and head out to the small wading pool that my mom bought for them to splash in. I love the fact that they are not too old for such simple pleasures as splashing in water. I spent the afternoons sitting beside the pool with a book. It was pretty close to heaven -&nbsp;</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-JSkFAwT95Ug/UB07JqLaVmI/AAAAAAAABXk/zaXNO742UZU/s1600/DSC00411.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-JSkFAwT95Ug/UB07JqLaVmI/AAAAAAAABXk/zaXNO742UZU/s320/DSC00411.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-I6QQLwKqC-A/UB07bTOkstI/AAAAAAAABXw/JtBrL6evch0/s1600/IMG_3214.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-I6QQLwKqC-A/UB07bTOkstI/AAAAAAAABXw/JtBrL6evch0/s320/IMG_3214.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">We kept our schedule even during our<br />visit with my sister. We just had a new<br />splashing buddy to play with!</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-c02ZxgbVaDE/UB07s3db7oI/AAAAAAAABX4/Zp2LnLqU7bs/s1600/IMG_3223.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-c02ZxgbVaDE/UB07s3db7oI/AAAAAAAABX4/Zp2LnLqU7bs/s320/IMG_3223.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-lGKWLF3XbQw/UB077PEy79I/AAAAAAAABYA/0pj5epvmMkc/s1600/IMG_3215.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-lGKWLF3XbQw/UB077PEy79I/AAAAAAAABYA/0pj5epvmMkc/s320/IMG_3215.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><div><br /></div></div>MaDonna Maurerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04157381592556792198noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2377501772914054212.post-1729075484829963012012-08-04T07:53:00.000-07:002012-08-04T07:56:49.140-07:00Life and Fun: Amish TownI grew up in a very small town where everybody knew everyone. It is still pretty much like that. My children thought it was really cool that we could go into a store and people would really "know" me. They are growing up in a city of 3 million, so keep that in mind.<br /><br />What really excited my kids, though, were the horse-drawn vehicles that pulled up at the 4-way stop and hitched behind the bank. These buggies are owned by the Amish people that live scattered around the small town.<br /><br />The Amish are part of the community. Some are friends of my family. My father carried mail to them for years. He was also a welder, so it was not uncommon to have a large wooden wagon hitched to the telephone pole at the end of our driveway with a couple of barefoot children in their simple dresses and white summer bonnets or black pants with suspenders and a straw hat.<br /><br />This summer my children wanted to ride in one of the buggies, and it was not hard to find a neighbor friend to give us all a ride. It happened to be the weekend that some my husband's family came to visit. Below are some of the pics that we were able to take of our time.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-C7Jw1mMBk20/UB01ObGzcNI/AAAAAAAABWE/1dXSBrFVdeI/s1600/IMG_2934.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-C7Jw1mMBk20/UB01ObGzcNI/AAAAAAAABWE/1dXSBrFVdeI/s320/IMG_2934.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-D0V1UDby1E8/UB01gQb2RxI/AAAAAAAABWQ/8QBmQj6lhYs/s1600/IMG_2938.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-D0V1UDby1E8/UB01gQb2RxI/AAAAAAAABWQ/8QBmQj6lhYs/s320/IMG_2938.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-aK6ys4ILlUk/UB012EBEpqI/AAAAAAAABWY/sr9dnkx5uIg/s1600/IMG_2946.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-aK6ys4ILlUk/UB012EBEpqI/AAAAAAAABWY/sr9dnkx5uIg/s320/IMG_2946.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-z-N8ERm5D00/UB02JVRQcWI/AAAAAAAABWg/8sNGRvnTJK0/s1600/IMG_2950.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-z-N8ERm5D00/UB02JVRQcWI/AAAAAAAABWg/8sNGRvnTJK0/s320/IMG_2950.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Found kittens near the barn.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-t9dYvg63ZaU/UB02cCf4LfI/AAAAAAAABWs/NVpVjM9KUsw/s1600/IMG_2949.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-t9dYvg63ZaU/UB02cCf4LfI/AAAAAAAABWs/NVpVjM9KUsw/s320/IMG_2949.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mei Mei would have loved to have&nbsp;brought <br />this little guy home with her.</td></tr></tbody></table><br />MaDonna Maurerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04157381592556792198noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2377501772914054212.post-2879520267824331112012-08-04T07:25:00.000-07:002012-08-04T07:25:23.831-07:00Life and Fun: Fireworks-less 4th of July<br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ODMBThSoNBg/UB0tTFa9NWI/AAAAAAAABVs/rDCYOpsfNaQ/s1600/IMG_3200.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ODMBThSoNBg/UB0tTFa9NWI/AAAAAAAABVs/rDCYOpsfNaQ/s320/IMG_3200.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A few of tasty items from the grill...</td></tr></tbody></table>Wouldn't you know it would happen to us: back in the US and not able to shoot fireworks on the 4th of July. ( I know this was a month ago, but well wanted to get it ready for the newsletter coming out soon...)<br /><br />It turned out to be one of the hottest summers that I can ever remember in the mid-west.<br /><br />I'm not too upset by the banned fireworks. Living in Asia, we actually see some pretty cool ones quite often. The girls don't really care for them either...too loud. So, we spent time eating and talking around the kitchen table.<br /><br />Feeling like I needed to do a few 4th of July things with the girls, I read <a href="http://www.gingrichproductions.com/vm-shop/autographed-books/sweet-land-of-liberty.html" target="_blank"><i>Sweet Land of Liberty</i></a> by Callista Gingrich. It is really cute picture book about the US. It has good information that is not overwhelming to young children on the history of the United States.<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.gingrichproductions.com/components/com_virtuemart/shop_image/product/Sweet_Land_of_Li_4e96fbabedfe1.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.gingrichproductions.com/components/com_virtuemart/shop_image/product/Sweet_Land_of_Li_4e96fbabedfe1.png" /></a></div>I also did a few crafts with the girls to&nbsp;celebrate...<br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-JFvkCL5y1qY/UB0thzkYPSI/AAAAAAAABV0/aOF9xWuLNJI/s1600/IMG_3198.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-JFvkCL5y1qY/UB0thzkYPSI/AAAAAAAABV0/aOF9xWuLNJI/s320/IMG_3198.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our fireworks...</td></tr></tbody></table><br />MaDonna Maurerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04157381592556792198noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2377501772914054212.post-37331349105911988492012-06-28T08:29:00.000-07:002012-06-28T08:29:00.077-07:00Life and Fun: Fishing and Rodeos<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Two of my favorite activities growing up in the Mid-West was fishing and rodeos. Although I haven't had the opportunity to fish this time, and probably won't due to a couple of reasons, my husband was able to take Ge Ge and Mei Mei out with our nephew to my uncle's pond. If you are not a fisherman, you may have heard that to catch fish you need to be quiet....hmm, Mei Mei only got to go a few times because being quiet is not something she excels at. Now put her in a room with people and she will make them all feel welcomed by chatting away with them. She was just in the wrong setting.&nbsp;</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Anyway, the kids had a great time and they did catch some ~ or at least they came back with some "fisherman's tales".&nbsp;</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-i-ietD3Rnmo/T-i3jMBNw4I/AAAAAAAABUc/D3T68EJXShY/s1600/IMG_3009.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-i-ietD3Rnmo/T-i3jMBNw4I/AAAAAAAABUc/D3T68EJXShY/s320/IMG_3009.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-pc6B_yr60BM/T-i4zRZSVwI/AAAAAAAABUk/fBzxE9P9Lp0/s1600/IMG_3017.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-pc6B_yr60BM/T-i4zRZSVwI/AAAAAAAABUk/fBzxE9P9Lp0/s320/IMG_3017.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-UY3lZ7LZmRk/T-i6EFTN_AI/AAAAAAAABUs/wj68niHggO0/s1600/IMG_3018.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-UY3lZ7LZmRk/T-i6EFTN_AI/AAAAAAAABUs/wj68niHggO0/s320/IMG_3018.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Rodeos are something I really have enjoyed for sometime. The open space around the arena. The sounds of laughter from the crowd as the clown does his thing, the quiet respect as the flag is ridden out, the sound of hooves hitting the ground in full 'lope, the&nbsp;lariats whirling in the air and released to catch a calf, and the setting sun.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I had fun, even if Jie Jie almost pulled my hair out. She was scared of the clown and the loud announcements, but she did enjoy the horses and the cowboys(girls), especially one cowboy, her Uncle Runt ~ the pick-up man. He was working that rodeo, so the kids watched in awe as he roped a bull and pulled him out of the arena.&nbsp;</div><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-FouSPvIxi9I/T-i69RtC81I/AAAAAAAABU4/ioP97q7OS24/s1600/IMG_3076.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-FouSPvIxi9I/T-i69RtC81I/AAAAAAAABU4/ioP97q7OS24/s320/IMG_3076.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The flag carried in.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-GkfmuhLt9QU/T-i7_hKepXI/AAAAAAAABVA/yTUcVyEMDmE/s1600/IMG_3078.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-GkfmuhLt9QU/T-i7_hKepXI/AAAAAAAABVA/yTUcVyEMDmE/s320/IMG_3078.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steer_wrestling" target="_blank">Steer Wresting</a> or what the cowboys call "Bulldoggin'"&nbsp;</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-IXeI3_ehGE0/T-i84cemvRI/AAAAAAAABVI/pk_OcrFVcRM/s1600/IMG_3077.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-IXeI3_ehGE0/T-i84cemvRI/AAAAAAAABVI/pk_OcrFVcRM/s320/IMG_3077.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Uncle Runt ~ our favorite pick-up man.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-v-dQU6gSCBg/T-mzN3FreyI/AAAAAAAABVY/fBCHNpMap0w/s1600/IMG_3082.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-v-dQU6gSCBg/T-mzN3FreyI/AAAAAAAABVY/fBCHNpMap0w/s320/IMG_3082.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The sunset over the arena. Love those mid-west sunsets.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div><br /></div>MaDonna Maurerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04157381592556792198noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2377501772914054212.post-4398642038249100642012-06-21T08:36:00.000-07:002012-06-21T08:36:00.760-07:00Life and Fun: Tearing Down Houses<span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">My family is considered somewhat large for the American family. I have three sisters and a brother. They are all married and have children and even some grandkids now. When we get together we are quite the clan. </span><i style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">You can only imagine what it was like for the fish fry we had with all my aunts and uncles and their children and grandchildren.</i><br /><i style="background-color: white; text-align: left;"><br /></i><br /><div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Most of my family live fairly close to my mother, so you can find them gathered just about every Sunday for lunch around one of the tables at Mom's.&nbsp;</div><div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">When someone in the family needs help and if you are near and able, you help out. It has always been like that. Thanksgiving was known as the "wood gathering" time. We'd all help Dad cut and bring in a load or two before the meal. This would be considered a chore if you were still living under his roof, but none of were at the time. When my parents re-sided their house, the family all came together and helped out. It's what my family does.</div><div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">So, when we come to visit it is no different for us. One summer my husband helped take shingles off a roof to help my brother. Another summer we helped my parents re-panel a closet. Another summer we helped build my brother-in-law's large indoor arena.&nbsp;<span style="background-color: white;">We grab hammers, pitch forks, or the spatula(help prepare the meals) and work alongside my siblings.</span></div><div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">This summer was no different. My husband and son helped another brother-in-law build fence AND we all helped tear down a house. Yes, a whole house. Below are some photos of that summer project. I think we got it down in a few days. <i>Guess it doesn't take too long when you have quite a few hands helping out.&nbsp;</i></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-d31xHmbJ8z4/T8-IyYDG3FI/AAAAAAAABTo/PjiQCklNuFY/s1600/IMG_2913.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-d31xHmbJ8z4/T8-IyYDG3FI/AAAAAAAABTo/PjiQCklNuFY/s320/IMG_2913.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The house after my brother knocked it down.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-lybV1hsiUXM/T8-JEqMxFhI/AAAAAAAABTw/nugeDV0lQa4/s1600/IMG_2921.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-lybV1hsiUXM/T8-JEqMxFhI/AAAAAAAABTw/nugeDV0lQa4/s320/IMG_2921.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A crew at work.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-uXV6KVJmYZY/T8-JWpJ-b8I/AAAAAAAABT8/XUDbatdEEcQ/s1600/IMG_2909.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-uXV6KVJmYZY/T8-JWpJ-b8I/AAAAAAAABT8/XUDbatdEEcQ/s320/IMG_2909.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-zQ-5k-3wszc/T-HqWN-vJjI/AAAAAAAABUI/sNUKTBbHvos/s1600/IMG_2931.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-zQ-5k-3wszc/T-HqWN-vJjI/AAAAAAAABUI/sNUKTBbHvos/s320/IMG_2931.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">After the house was gone, the girls <br />had their own "work".</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-huvSyv0mDCM/T-HrsD-hFMI/AAAAAAAABUQ/rPEJIKArA2g/s1600/IMG_2929.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-huvSyv0mDCM/T-HrsD-hFMI/AAAAAAAABUQ/rPEJIKArA2g/s320/IMG_2929.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I love my family and the fact that we help each other out like this. It helps save them some money and bonds us together ~ <i>and it helped us get over jet lag pretty quick since this was during our first weekend.&nbsp;</i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i><br /></i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>What do you do as a family together? Any fond memories of helping each other out? </i>Please comment below.</div><div class="zemanta-related" style="margin-top: 20px; overflow: hidden;"><h4 class="zemanta-related-title">Related articles</h4><ul class="zemanta-article-ul zemanta-article-ul-image" style="margin-left: 0; padding: 0;"><li class="zemanta-article-ul-li-image zemanta-article-ul-li" style="display: block; float: left; font-size: 12px; height: 240px; list-style: none; margin: 10px 40px 20px 0px; text-align: left; width: 80px;"><a href="http://umdmaurer.blogspot.com/2012/06/life-and-fun-memorial-weekend.html" style="border: 0; display: block; margin: 0 0 10px 0; padding: 0;" target="_blank"><img src="http://i.zemanta.com/92982541_80_80.jpg" style="border: 0; box-shadow: 1px 1px 3px #999; margin: 0; padding: 0;" width="80" /></a><a href="http://umdmaurer.blogspot.com/2012/06/life-and-fun-memorial-weekend.html" style="display: block; height: 90px; line-height: 14pt; overflow: hidden; text-decoration: none; width: 80px;" target="_blank">Life and Fun: Memorial Weekend</a><div style="clear: both; margin: 10px 0 10px 0;"><hr style="margin: 0;" /></div></li><li class="zemanta-article-ul-li-image zemanta-article-ul-li" style="display: block; float: left; font-size: 12px; height: 240px; list-style: none; margin: 10px 40px 20px 0px; text-align: left; width: 80px;"><a href="http://raisingtcks.com/2012/01/20/looking-past-the-disability-gifts-and-talents/" style="border: 0; display: block; margin: 0 0 10px 0; padding: 0;" target="_blank"><img src="http://i.zemanta.com/85369626_80_80.jpg" style="border: 0; box-shadow: 1px 1px 3px #999; margin: 0; padding: 0;" width="80" /></a><a href="http://raisingtcks.com/2012/01/20/looking-past-the-disability-gifts-and-talents/" style="display: block; height: 90px; line-height: 14pt; overflow: hidden; text-decoration: none; width: 80px;" target="_blank">Looking Past the Disability...gifts and talents</a><div style="clear: both; margin: 10px 0 10px 0;"><hr style="margin: 0;" /></div></li><li class="zemanta-article-ul-li-image zemanta-article-ul-li" style="display: block; float: left; font-size: 12px; height: 240px; list-style: none; margin: 10px 40px 20px 0px; text-align: left; width: 80px;"><a href="http://raisingtcks.com/2012/06/17/changes-in-america-european-championship/" style="border: 0; display: block; margin: 0 0 10px 0; padding: 0;" target="_blank"><img src="http://i.zemanta.com/94890362_80_80.jpg" style="border: 0; box-shadow: 1px 1px 3px #999; margin: 0; padding: 0;" width="80" /></a><a href="http://raisingtcks.com/2012/06/17/changes-in-america-european-championship/" style="display: block; height: 90px; line-height: 14pt; overflow: hidden; text-decoration: none; width: 80px;" target="_blank">Changes in America...European Championship</a><div style="clear: both; margin: 10px 0 10px 0;"><hr style="margin: 0;" /></div></li></ul></div><div class="zemanta-pixie" style="height: 15px; margin-top: 10px;"><a class="zemanta-pixie-a" href="http://www.zemanta.com/?px" title="Enhanced by Zemanta"><img alt="Enhanced by Zemanta" class="zemanta-pixie-img" src="http://img.zemanta.com/zemified_e.png?x-id=43667054-7e69-4bec-ae2e-f1c09a9330b0" style="border: none; float: right;" /></a></div>MaDonna Maurerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04157381592556792198noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2377501772914054212.post-3088454984646423852012-06-07T09:38:00.000-07:002012-06-07T09:38:00.040-07:00Life and Fun: Memorial WeekendMemorial Weekend was a few weeks ago, but I'm going to blog about it because 1. I am back in the US and 2. I was battling jet-lag at the time <i>and sinus infection since then.&nbsp;</i><br /><i><br /></i><br />I haven't been "home" for Memorial Weekend for at least a decade now. I was sick that weekend, so I wasn't able to do all I wanted to with the kids. Like...take them to buy red poppies, take them to a memorial service, or take them out and put flowers on the graves. *deep sigh* <i>being sick stinks!</i><br /><br />I did go out with two of my sisters and my mother one afternoon to put flowers on the graves of various family members, including my own father's. I took a few pictures because many of these&nbsp;grave-sites&nbsp;are just plots in an open field or plots of a country church. <br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-mVAdHgAwSPU/T8-Fv9bDVwI/AAAAAAAABTQ/uiePqTm4dG4/s1600/IMG_2922.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-mVAdHgAwSPU/T8-Fv9bDVwI/AAAAAAAABTQ/uiePqTm4dG4/s320/IMG_2922.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Ycocy9CU8Xc/T8-F40F2VjI/AAAAAAAABTc/0hWB2wHHCrY/s1600/IMG_2925.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Ycocy9CU8Xc/T8-F40F2VjI/AAAAAAAABTc/0hWB2wHHCrY/s320/IMG_2925.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><br />I really enjoyed this day because I was with part of my family, in the country, and remembering family stories. I will bring my kids out to see my dad's before we leave. We'll just make it our own little "Memorial Day" to remember Grandpa together.<br /><br /><i>What did you do over Memorial weekend? Any traditions?</i><br /><div class="zemanta-related" style="margin-top: 20px; overflow: hidden;"><h4 class="zemanta-related-title">Related articles</h4><ul class="zemanta-article-ul zemanta-article-ul-image" style="margin-left: 0; padding: 0;"><li class="zemanta-article-ul-li-image zemanta-article-ul-li" style="display: block; float: left; font-size: 12px; height: 240px; list-style: none; margin: 10px 40px 20px 0px; text-align: left; width: 80px;"><a href="http://lindasflowers.wordpress.com/2012/05/24/history-of-memorial-day-poppies-remember-our-heros/" style="border: 0; display: block; margin: 0 0 10px 0; padding: 0;" target="_blank"><img src="http://i.zemanta.com/90727662_80_80.jpg" style="border: 0; box-shadow: 1px 1px 3px #999; margin: 0; padding: 0;" width="80" /></a><a href="http://lindasflowers.wordpress.com/2012/05/24/history-of-memorial-day-poppies-remember-our-heros/" style="display: block; height: 90px; line-height: 14pt; overflow: hidden; text-decoration: none; width: 80px;" target="_blank">Memorial Day Poppies - Remembering Our Heros</a><div style="clear: both; margin: 10px 0 10px 0;"><hr style="margin: 0;" /></div></li><li class="zemanta-article-ul-li-image zemanta-article-ul-li" style="display: block; float: left; font-size: 12px; height: 240px; list-style: none; margin: 10px 40px 20px 0px; text-align: left; width: 80px;"><a href="http://raisingtcks.com/2012/05/08/book-review-home-keeps-moving-by-heidi-sand-hart/" style="border: 0; display: block; margin: 0 0 10px 0; padding: 0;" target="_blank"><img src="http://i.zemanta.com/87748855_80_80.jpg" style="border: 0; box-shadow: 1px 1px 3px #999; margin: 0; padding: 0;" width="80" /></a><a href="http://raisingtcks.com/2012/05/08/book-review-home-keeps-moving-by-heidi-sand-hart/" style="display: block; height: 90px; line-height: 14pt; overflow: hidden; text-decoration: none; width: 80px;" target="_blank">Book Review: "Home Keeps Moving" by Heidi Sand-Hart</a><div style="clear: both; margin: 10px 0 10px 0;"><hr style="margin: 0;" /></div></li></ul></div><div class="zemanta-pixie" style="height: 15px; margin-top: 10px;"><a class="zemanta-pixie-a" href="http://www.zemanta.com/?px" title="Enhanced by Zemanta"><img alt="Enhanced by Zemanta" class="zemanta-pixie-img" src="http://img.zemanta.com/zemified_e.png?x-id=78d96f8a-b740-4853-b815-963d8db5917e" style="border: none; float: right;" /></a></div>MaDonna Maurerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04157381592556792198noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2377501772914054212.post-13310426097973711442012-05-17T19:53:00.001-07:002012-05-17T19:53:48.243-07:00Book Review<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://encrypted-tbn2.google.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRGtm3Q_Ys5o_-3rYE7xKrzBq7Dj9U2MPR6WPO2Ncnc0UfujMXv" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://encrypted-tbn2.google.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRGtm3Q_Ys5o_-3rYE7xKrzBq7Dj9U2MPR6WPO2Ncnc0UfujMXv" /></a></div><br />I just did a review for the book, <a href="http://fillinthegaps100.blogspot.com/2012/05/listening-for-lions-by-gloria-whelan.html" target="_blank">Listening for Lions</a> by Gloria Whelan. You can click <a href="http://fillinthegaps100.blogspot.com/2012/05/listening-for-lions-by-gloria-whelan.html" target="_blank">her<span id="goog_1729013969"></span><span id="goog_1729013970"></span>e </a>to read the full review.<br />Definitely a good read.MaDonna Maurerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04157381592556792198noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2377501772914054212.post-76757632042929094742012-05-08T16:59:00.001-07:002012-05-08T16:59:53.056-07:00Social Media Control<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://officeimg.vo.msecnd.net/en-us/images/MB900199394.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://officeimg.vo.msecnd.net/en-us/images/MB900199394.jpg" /></a></div><br />What do you post on Facebook? On Twitter? On your own personal blog? This subject has been talked about quite a bit in the last year or so. "You need to watch what you post about because it could cost you your job, your reputation, etc."<br /><br />This is true, and I agree, but I'm not going to "talk" about that today. Instead I'm going to take a different approach, sort of. I was at&nbsp;<a href="http://www.bsfinternational.org/" target="_blank">BSF</a>&nbsp;(<a href="http://www.bsfinternational.org/" target="_blank">Bible Study Fellowship</a>) a few weeks ago and the speaker made a really good point that has spoke to me as a person and as a writer.<br />Here is what she asked of us:<br /><blockquote class="tr_bq">"Does what you post on any social media reflecting God in a good light or a bad light?"&nbsp;</blockquote>It really brought to light some of the things that I am seeing on Facebook posts, Tweets, blogs, and even more so on comments made on blogs. It also brought light to what I am posting...or at least has made me slow down and re-think before I put it out there before all the world to see.&nbsp;<i>I even redid this post because I felt it was heading into a "preach it sista" mode, which is not what I was going for at all.&nbsp;</i><br /><i><br /></i><br />I also read an interesting&nbsp;<a href="http://goinswriter.com/mean-people-online/" target="_blank">post&nbsp;</a>by Jeff Goins with the question of whether people are meaner online than they are in real life. It's a good&nbsp;<a href="http://goinswriter.com/mean-people-online/" target="_blank">post&nbsp;</a>if you have time to read it.<br /><br />So, what do I do before I hit the "post", the "send", or the "publish" button? I ask myself this:<br /><br /><ol><li>Is this going to hurt someone's character? I'm not talking about critiques of one's work, but of them personally.&nbsp;</li><li>Is it TMI (too much information)? what I ate, what my kid did on the toilet, anything that I did that would make my mother blush -&nbsp;<i>I hope I'm past that stage in life *blushing myself thinking of the past*</i></li><li>How is this going to reflect Christ?&nbsp;<i>I am a Christian so this is important to me.</i></li></ol><div>So, what do you think? Do you think people are meaner online? Do you think people are too vocal about what they do in the personal lives? Or is it just me? Have you been able to keep your posts positive and encouraging?&nbsp;<i>I'll be honest, I think I've posted a few things while writing this that I wish I hadn't. They weren't HUGE or anything, just snide remarks that could have just not been written. Anyway, would love to know your thoughts as I'm pondering these types of questions.</i><br /><i><br /></i><br /><i>*picture from microsoft.com</i></div>MaDonna Maurerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04157381592556792198noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2377501772914054212.post-21724026529895898142012-04-24T07:44:00.002-07:002012-04-24T07:44:50.760-07:00"I Am Special" Review and Interview<br /><div class="im" style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.917969);"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; color: #500050; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 17px; text-align: center;"><a href="http://raisingmytcks.files.wordpress.com/2012/04/img_2291.jpg?w=300&amp;h=225" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://raisingmytcks.files.wordpress.com/2012/04/img_2291.jpg?w=300&amp;h=225" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; color: #500050; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 17px; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 17px;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Am-Special-Lai-Yit-Loong/dp/1456786245/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1335278648&amp;sr=8-1" target="_blank">"I am Special"</a>, written by Lai Yit Loong and&nbsp;</span><span style="font-size: 18px;">Catherine</span><span style="font-size: 17px;">&nbsp;Lai, is a picture book relating the life of Benjy, a boy with autism. The reader gets a glimpse at what he can do and his accomplishments thus far. As a parent of a special needs child I was encouraged by the letters and poems written by Benjy's older sisters.&nbsp;</span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 17px; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 17px; text-align: left;">I had the opportunity to this great couple a few months ago. When I heard that they had published a book, I immediately wanted to ask them loads of questions regarding publishing. So, below are the questions and answers by Yit Loong.</div><div style="color: #500050; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 17px;"><br /></div><div style="color: #500050; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 17px;">1. How did you decide which publisher to use?</div><div style="color: #500050; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 17px;">&nbsp;</div></div><div style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.917969); color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 17px;">Since I had not published a book before, I wanted&nbsp;a publisher who could offer a complete range of services with few or no restrictions and conditions, was flexible and accommodating, and willing to publish anything for a fee. I wanted to fully experience the journey of writing and publishing a book from the initial draft all the way thru to having the book finally printed and featured on Amazon.com.</div><div style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.917969); color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 17px;">I came across <a class="zem_slink" href="http://www.authorhouse.com/" rel="homepage" target="_blank" title="AuthorHouse">Authorhouse</a> from a friend who had published a cookbook a couple of months before I decided to start the project.</div><div class="im" style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.917969); color: #500050; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 17px;"><div><br /></div><div>2. What did you find to be the most difficult part in publishing?</div><div>&nbsp;</div></div><div style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.917969); color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 17px;">The most challenging part was to decide the target audience of the book. The book grew and evolved as we got deeper into the project. I started with a simple idea of writing a story for my son's birthday present. Just for him to read. Then the idea expanded. I thought, wound't it be nice if the parents could read the book together with the child ? So I added my story and Cat's story for the parents.&nbsp;Then the idea grew again: why not make it into a family book that everyone in the family could express how they feel towards Benjy ?&nbsp;So I added stories from my girls. The next question came:&nbsp;why not make it into a book that we could share with our friends and family? So we added a bunch of photos. Finally, I thought it would be so cool if we added some illustrations to add more colors and variations. So writing this book has taught me many things, especially how to develop and turn a simple idea into the book. The most important thing I have learnt is an idea will remain an idea locked in your head, and rather meaningless until you do something about it. Wonderful experience and great results will follow when you act.</div><div class="im" style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.917969); color: #500050; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 17px;"><div>&nbsp;</div><div>3. How have you marketed your book?</div><div>&nbsp;</div></div><div style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.917969); color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 17px;">Authorhouse helps to put the book on google search and makes it available on the online stores. We discuss and share our work on Facebook with our friends. Cat shares it with other <a href="http://www.tas.edu.tw/" target="_blank">TAS</a> mothers and friends. Thanks to TAS PTA (Parent Teacher Association) to help promote it. We also promote it at the school's Spring fair. We are grateful for friends and families who have supported us.</div><div class="im" style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.917969); color: #500050; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 17px;"><div><br /></div><div>4. What do you feel has been the best way to market your book?</div><div>&nbsp;</div></div><div style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.917969); color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 17px;">We find reaching out and openly talking about our experience raising Benjy and why we have written the book very effective in connecting with people. Benjy did a good job trying to autograph every book we&nbsp;have sold. We have been pleasantly surprised and extremely grateful at the level of support we have received so far.</div><div class="im" style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.917969); color: #500050; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 17px;"><div><br /></div><div>5. Any advise to those seeking publishing?</div><div>&nbsp;</div></div><div style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.917969); color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 17px;">Start with a passion to write. Then just do it. There are a lot of people and resources out there offering to help.</div><div class="im" style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.917969); color: #500050; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 17px;"><div><br /></div><div>6. Plan to write more books in the future?</div><div>&nbsp;</div></div><div style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.917969); color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 17px;">Yes...I would like to write an anthology on my family stories, a family cookbook and a business book.</div><div style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.917969); color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 17px;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.917969); color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 17px;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.917969); color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 17px;">I liked Yit Loong's advise, "Then just do it."&nbsp;</div><br /><div class="zemanta-related" style="margin-top: 20px; overflow: hidden;"><h4 class="zemanta-related-title">Related articles</h4><ul class="zemanta-article-ul zemanta-article-ul-image" style="margin-left: 0; padding: 0;"><li class="zemanta-article-ul-li-image zemanta-article-ul-li" style="display: block; float: left; height: 240px; list-style: none; margin: 10px 20px 20px 0px; overflow: hidden; width: 100px;"><a href="http://raisingtcks.com/2012/04/18/i-am-special-book-review/" style="border: 0; display: block; float: left; margin: 0 0 10px 0; padding: 0;" target="_blank"><img src="http://i.zemanta.com/85369615.jpg" style="border: 0; margin: 0; padding: 0;" width="100" /></a><a href="http://raisingtcks.com/2012/04/18/i-am-special-book-review/" style="clear: left; display: block; float: left; width: 100px;" target="_blank">"I Am Special" Book Review</a></li></ul></div><div class="zemanta-pixie" style="height: 15px; margin-top: 10px;"><a class="zemanta-pixie-a" href="http://www.zemanta.com/" title="Enhanced by Zemanta"><img alt="Enhanced by Zemanta" class="zemanta-pixie-img" src="http://img.zemanta.com/zemified_e.png?x-id=038f723b-a79e-410d-b9de-df25c14b4753" style="border: none; float: right;" /></a></div>MaDonna Maurerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04157381592556792198noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2377501772914054212.post-23042840812654016942012-04-17T07:36:00.000-07:002012-04-17T07:36:50.025-07:00Ways to Get Back into Writing<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/xlibber/4855182596/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" title="Typewriter by xlibber, on Flickr"><img alt="Typewriter" height="332" src="http://farm5.staticflickr.com/4081/4855182596_28d85ff534.jpg" width="500" /></a></div><br /><br />Life gets busy.<br />Kids need to be fed. Floors need to be swept. Child forgets lunch for school. A mountain of laundry is forming in front of your eyes. Oh, and the kids need to be fed again.<br />End of day, tired, no writing done.<br /><br />Or the motivation to write anything is just gone, but you want it back.<br />Here are a few ways that I have used to help pull me back into the writer's chair.<br /><br />1. <b>Enter a critique giveaway</b>. I entered <a href="http://marciahoehne.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Marcia's </a>&nbsp;January&nbsp;critique and won. I was forced to edit my first 1000 words of the novel I had shelved to submit to her. It was exactly what I needed. If you are interested she seems to have them every few months. Next week <a href="http://alsonnichsen.blogspot.com/2012/04/whats-your-reading-style.html" target="_blank">Amy</a> will be giving away one to celebrate her birthday, so if you are needing a nudge here is a great way to start.<br />2. <b>Enter a critique blog fest</b>. I entered <a href="http://skmayhew.blogspot.com/2012/04/confidence-how-to-get-it.html" target="_blank">Sharon's </a>blog fest last week. It led me to pull out an old PB manuscript that I had been working on. Now I'm polishing that up. This was just the first 100 words, so how hard was that? I've seen these around in the blog world, so keep your eyes open. It was my first one and so much fun.<br />3. <b>Enter a writing contest</b>. Find a writing contest that interests you and polish something up or create something totally new to enter.<br />4. <b>Journal</b>. Go back to write your own personal story. I find that writing is&nbsp;therapeutic&nbsp;for me. It just helps me to shut down and reflect on the situation(s).<br />5. And when all else fails - <b>Block time and sit bottom in chair and start typing</b>. That is what I just did to finish up the PB manuscript for critiquing and to write this post.<br /><br /><i>What do you do to motivate you to get back in the writer's chair?</i><br /><i><br /></i><br />*Photo by xlibber on flickrMaDonna Maurerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04157381592556792198noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2377501772914054212.post-6847483800242384552012-04-11T07:00:00.000-07:002012-04-11T07:00:51.912-07:00Happy Easter!I've been absent since New Year's Eve. Wow....is this becoming a Holiday only blogsite?<br />No. <i>At least I don't plan on that</i>.<br />I could give lots of reasons why I've not been writing here, or there, or really anywhere...but instead I'll just post a few pics of our Easter weekend.<br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-nOj5-6XINrM/T4WLlPmqYNI/AAAAAAAABMs/GVTOeBn69i0/s1600/IMG_2183.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-nOj5-6XINrM/T4WLlPmqYNI/AAAAAAAABMs/GVTOeBn69i0/s320/IMG_2183.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">We colored eggs!</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-L-qSFiEmWnU/T4WL10jO7sI/AAAAAAAABM0/HWo6Qt4pf7c/s1600/IMG_2196.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-L-qSFiEmWnU/T4WL10jO7sI/AAAAAAAABM0/HWo6Qt4pf7c/s320/IMG_2196.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">We painted eggs and hung them on our<br />Easter Tree!</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-UMgNn_swm38/T4WMF7738tI/AAAAAAAABM8/XtHyBL_JjOs/s1600/IMG_2207.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-UMgNn_swm38/T4WMF7738tI/AAAAAAAABM8/XtHyBL_JjOs/s320/IMG_2207.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our church put on an Easter party. We hunted<br />for eggs, fished in a water pond, jumped in jumpy<br />castles, played games, got faces painted, and did the<br />"Chicken Dance!" Great time!</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-vvHs50jdcA8/T4WMV0f9YeI/AAAAAAAABNE/LEnkfeIV_j0/s1600/IMG_2223.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-vvHs50jdcA8/T4WMV0f9YeI/AAAAAAAABNE/LEnkfeIV_j0/s320/IMG_2223.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I and my lovely friend from South Africa getting ready<br />to have a match off....</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-SDYuZ9Td048/T4WMnaLB6II/AAAAAAAABNM/WLZdNbwdlfM/s1600/IMG_2226.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-SDYuZ9Td048/T4WMnaLB6II/AAAAAAAABNM/WLZdNbwdlfM/s320/IMG_2226.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Neither one of us got our hose off our heads. We were<br />both declared winners and Jie Jie got to pick a prize.</td></tr></tbody></table>Hope you all had a lovely Easter weekend! &nbsp;<div><h4><span style="font-weight: normal;"><i>And I promise to write a few blog posts before the next major holiday.</i>..;)</span></h4><div><br /></div></div>MaDonna Maurerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04157381592556792198noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2377501772914054212.post-50017352690217063062011-12-31T18:29:00.000-08:002011-12-31T18:29:39.224-08:00Happy New Year!New Year's Eve in Taipei is always filled with lots of fireworks. Since we've moved our view is even better. We had a free showing from our balcony of Taipei 101, which is the tallest building in the city. &nbsp;Also, along the river, we could watch fireworks for hours.<br /><br />This is a big year for Taipei 101. The year 2012 is also the year 101 in Taiwan. Taipei has two years. The one that most everyone around the world goes by and then the one that signifies the year that the Republic of China began.<br /><br />Here are a few photos of what we saw.<br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-0sP2Nfktpis/Tv-0hl04ZiI/AAAAAAAABH0/E5fdsKE08Fs/s1600/IMG_1872.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-0sP2Nfktpis/Tv-0hl04ZiI/AAAAAAAABH0/E5fdsKE08Fs/s320/IMG_1872.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Taipei 101 at midnight.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-qhvh3lXZ-Ds/Tv-0weMbPqI/AAAAAAAABH8/7dL4K0s-QgY/s1600/IMG_1878.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-qhvh3lXZ-Ds/Tv-0weMbPqI/AAAAAAAABH8/7dL4K0s-QgY/s320/IMG_1878.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">After a few minutes, this was all we could see.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-frUFUD9YL1M/Tv-0-YK9WnI/AAAAAAAABIE/Z7E97cnJPGs/s1600/IMG_1883.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-frUFUD9YL1M/Tv-0-YK9WnI/AAAAAAAABIE/Z7E97cnJPGs/s320/IMG_1883.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Some fireworks by the river near our home.</td></tr></tbody></table>If you'd like to watch the fireworks display, here is a video that I found on youtube. It was a pretty amazing display. &nbsp;<div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowFullScreen='true' webkitallowfullscreen='true' mozallowfullscreen='true' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/hwy2txhh-Ug?feature=player_embedded' FRAMEBORDER='0' /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Happy New Year!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div></div>MaDonna Maurerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04157381592556792198noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2377501772914054212.post-71519956058620476722011-11-23T06:00:00.000-08:002011-11-23T06:00:01.445-08:00Happy Thanksgiving!I haven't been writing here much, not due to NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month). I decided not to join in on all the fun this year. Good decision.<br />I also didn't join in on the Picture Book Idea Month this year either. Another good decision.<br /><br />What has taken me away?<br />1. I've been writing more over at www.raisingtcks.com. I think I've found my niche in life, but I'll pop back over here to keep up on the other areas of my life...need a place to be random, ya know. ;)<br /><br />2. Articles and short pieces for magazines. I have only one that has been published, but it is a start. If you are interested, you can read about one of my favorite reasons for our move, The Youth Park. This great little gem is what I call "our backyard." Click on this <a href="http://www.communitycenter.org.tw/sites/default/files/documents/publications/cot/COT_201111.pdf" target="_blank">link </a>to get to the magazine, then it is on page 20. I also took the photos and found I have a new love for photography.<br /><br />3. Entering a contest over at <a href="http://wow-womenonwriting.com/contest.php" target="_blank">Wow-Women on Writing</a>, which I need to touch up and get submitted. The due date is Nov. 30th. Will be doing that in a few days after I have a nice Thanksgiving meal with some friends and my family of 5.<br /><br />4. Then just the normal everyday homeschooling, apartment cleaning, biking kids to school, and other juggling activities of a mom.<br /><br />With all that, I'd like to say to you...Happy Thanksgiving! Hope you have a wonderful time with family and friends during this holiday (if you are from the US, that is).MaDonna Maurerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04157381592556792198noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2377501772914054212.post-63823961409380605742011-10-17T20:59:00.000-07:002011-10-17T20:59:20.117-07:00What is THAT Splattered on the Floor?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-2POcdOaLCVU/Tpzy6z5PCoI/AAAAAAAABEA/vRnVhan1j-I/s1600/IMG_1497.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-2POcdOaLCVU/Tpzy6z5PCoI/AAAAAAAABEA/vRnVhan1j-I/s320/IMG_1497.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />You know the saying, "What do you do when life throws you lemons? You make lemonade."<br />Today has been one of those days.<br /><br />Except I wasn't given lemons.<br />Try Splattered Nutella.<br />Yep, that yummy chocolate hazelnut spread.<br /><br />I walked into the kitchen and splattered everywhere was a dark brown gooey like substance.<br />I took a couple of sniffs for fear of the worst.<br />Quickly assessed the situation and found:<br /><br />Jie Jie jumping with joy with the brown goop spread up both arms to her elbows spraying it even closer to the ceiling above her.<br />Then she turned and I saw it caked across her face and nose, smudged into her shirt and splattered on her pants.<br />Another sniff to be sure, and then I saw the brand new opened jar of Nutella.<br />The 750g jar from Costco.<br />Half empty.<br /><br />I started to take a step. The floor was a minefield of dark brown goo.<br /><br /><i>How in the world am I going to get to her?</i><br /><i>How am I going to clean this up?</i><br /><i>Where do I even start?</i><br />Plus a whole lot of other thoughts that I won't write.<br /><br />Jie Jie showed me her hands and smiled. I cleaned off her arms at the sink while she giggled with delight. I sighed and debated on scolding her or laughing with her. <br /><br />I remembered <a href="http://umdmaurer.blogspot.com/2010/03/mattheas-day.html">this </a>post from a few years back. I ran out and grabbed the camera and took pictures. I remembered that although at this moment I was between tears and pulling my hair out, that in a few hours I would want to be showing my husband and laughing about it.<br /><br />Oh, and by the way I forgot to mention that this all happened within a few minutes of having to leave for physical therapy.<br />We called and canceled.<br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ZlGEhQeox8s/TpzyUXgsWnI/AAAAAAAABDo/Wqjon7vPxOk/s1600/IMG_1494.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ZlGEhQeox8s/TpzyUXgsWnI/AAAAAAAABDo/Wqjon7vPxOk/s320/IMG_1494.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The minefield.<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">&nbsp;</span></td></tr></tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-qjTDbFmLJUc/TpzzGxhKR0I/AAAAAAAABEI/UzzxzoV1PC4/s1600/IMG_1498.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-qjTDbFmLJUc/TpzzGxhKR0I/AAAAAAAABEI/UzzxzoV1PC4/s320/IMG_1498.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My cabinets...</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-qUm0br_cJGU/TpzyGKw5EuI/AAAAAAAABDg/guWoH33PJ9I/s1600/IMG_1493.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-qUm0br_cJGU/TpzyGKw5EuI/AAAAAAAABDg/guWoH33PJ9I/s320/IMG_1493.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I think she enjoyed herself.</td></tr></tbody></table>We ate Nutella sandwiches instead.<br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-vCcALF1yC8A/TpzzVEA0epI/AAAAAAAABEQ/EHFaIFBaq2A/s1600/IMG_1499.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-vCcALF1yC8A/TpzzVEA0epI/AAAAAAAABEQ/EHFaIFBaq2A/s320/IMG_1499.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I used some of the large globs near the jar. I just could<br />NOT waste it. It made for a nice snack.</td></tr></tbody></table>My new saying? <i>When life splatters Nutella at you, grab some bread and make a sandwich.</i><div><i><br /></i></div><div><i>Any Nutella splattered at you lately? How did you make a "sandwich" out of it?&nbsp;</i><br /><br /></div>MaDonna Maurerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04157381592556792198noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2377501772914054212.post-91725935758905199142011-10-16T19:31:00.001-07:002011-10-16T19:31:18.688-07:00Book Review: Gregor the Overlander<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://t3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcR0Zks4rxD7UWKit9Yn3IXdcCFgXhvLkeyV6V0h7a2z845QSzXmOw" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://t3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcR0Zks4rxD7UWKit9Yn3IXdcCFgXhvLkeyV6V0h7a2z845QSzXmOw" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Gregor the Overlander&nbsp;</i>by Suzanne Collins</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I enjoyed the book, though it took me a few chapters to really get into it. The language used by the Underlanders was fun to read. It was English, just grammatically different.&nbsp;</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">To read a full review please click&nbsp;<a href="http://fillinthegaps100.blogspot.com/2011/10/gregor-overlander-by-suzanne-collins.html">here</a>. I read this for my Fill in the Gaps Project.&nbsp;</div>MaDonna Maurerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04157381592556792198noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2377501772914054212.post-63406964936830141452011-10-14T06:20:00.000-07:002011-10-14T06:20:53.281-07:00Homeschool Wrap Up....Fall Field-tripsNot a lot of "schooling" went on this week in the sense of writing, reading, and counting. Instead, we had&nbsp;field-trips&nbsp;with the siblings (they were on Fall Break).<br />Pictures tell all...<br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-itFs6vuYzK8/TpgtmC7QFWI/AAAAAAAABCQ/rYFx8edNz3M/s1600/IMG_1200.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-itFs6vuYzK8/TpgtmC7QFWI/AAAAAAAABCQ/rYFx8edNz3M/s320/IMG_1200.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Attended the parade to celebrate the 100th<br />Anniversary of the Republic of China.</td></tr></tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-JgBPGwtkolE/Tpgugw1rduI/AAAAAAAABCo/t4xnFhxrhWQ/s1600/IMG_1294.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-JgBPGwtkolE/Tpgugw1rduI/AAAAAAAABCo/t4xnFhxrhWQ/s320/IMG_1294.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Watched fireworks from our rooftop for the anniversary.<br />Okay, Jie Jie was actually sleeping, but GeGe and I watched.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-a-q46KJIdiY/TpguuRgXNgI/AAAAAAAABCw/mq1s2XB-keg/s1600/IMG_1466.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-a-q46KJIdiY/TpguuRgXNgI/AAAAAAAABCw/mq1s2XB-keg/s320/IMG_1466.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Took the cable car with the glass bottom to the tea farms.<br />We didn't stay long because the kids were restless.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-sgTK2o0h16Y/Tpgu9qrCpZI/AAAAAAAABC4/7danoUy8v4s/s1600/IMG_1470.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-sgTK2o0h16Y/Tpgu9qrCpZI/AAAAAAAABC4/7danoUy8v4s/s320/IMG_1470.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">View of Taipei 101 from the top. That is a temple<br />on the left side of the photo.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-RafWjcDs-nU/TpgvKEpdGqI/AAAAAAAABDA/AJvDbjk8aAM/s1600/IMG_1479.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-RafWjcDs-nU/TpgvKEpdGqI/AAAAAAAABDA/AJvDbjk8aAM/s320/IMG_1479.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Zoo trip...of course, we had to see the penguins. They<br />actually got in the water for us this time! Super happy!</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-twsaRJZ_bfk/TpgvcOnB2vI/AAAAAAAABDI/yXbf-vz7mEw/s1600/IMG_1364.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-twsaRJZ_bfk/TpgvcOnB2vI/AAAAAAAABDI/yXbf-vz7mEw/s320/IMG_1364.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Beach Time! Mei Mei playing in the sand.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-3pLf2MX2Lls/TpgvqjLokfI/AAAAAAAABDQ/9ewt-cbR2Tw/s1600/IMG_1393.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-3pLf2MX2Lls/TpgvqjLokfI/AAAAAAAABDQ/9ewt-cbR2Tw/s320/IMG_1393.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">GeGe body surfing.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-HBgbnLS74sc/Tpgv3S8xIxI/AAAAAAAABDY/-cAwVAwPtAE/s1600/IMG_1461.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-HBgbnLS74sc/Tpgv3S8xIxI/AAAAAAAABDY/-cAwVAwPtAE/s320/IMG_1461.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Jie Jie thinks she is going snorkeling...</td></tr></tbody></table>It was a good week, but now we have to retrain our brains back to the school-zone.<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div>MaDonna Maurerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04157381592556792198noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2377501772914054212.post-2406515628748077262011-10-09T02:30:00.000-07:002011-10-09T02:30:05.646-07:00Homeschool Wrap Up...Apples and Writing<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">This is a bit late in posting, but here it is. We looked at apples this week and had fun with paint...</div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-zx3SLMtm3Lo/TpFcsEG1qfI/AAAAAAAABB4/qbLDU_KWQjw/s1600/IMG_1179.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-zx3SLMtm3Lo/TpFcsEG1qfI/AAAAAAAABB4/qbLDU_KWQjw/s320/IMG_1179.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I got this cute letter matching game from <a href="http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Alphabet-Apple-Matching">here</a>.<br />Jie Jie worked on this, but I found that her attention<br />span is something we need to lengthen. Reminding<br />myself that this is normal since we haven't had<br />"school" all summer. Retrain the brain.&nbsp;</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-VhBzncXKx7s/TpFc-0b62QI/AAAAAAAABB8/Ni52gbv8OnQ/s1600/IMG_1180.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-VhBzncXKx7s/TpFc-0b62QI/AAAAAAAABB8/Ni52gbv8OnQ/s320/IMG_1180.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Counting. I drew very simple trees and put<br />apples on them and had her count them. Great<br />thing is that she gets 1-3 at 100%, so now I know<br />I need to challenge her with higher numbers.&nbsp;</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-UJXrMVsgbas/TpFdL2i2RnI/AAAAAAAABCA/DymZghTINFc/s1600/IMG_1181.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-UJXrMVsgbas/TpFdL2i2RnI/AAAAAAAABCA/DymZghTINFc/s320/IMG_1181.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Writing. This was totally on her own. I<br />didn't even have my hand over hers. Still<br />needs work, but I'm seeing progress. We'll<br />work on more letters next week.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-FNFAYDNIVJk/TpFdo0SX5mI/AAAAAAAABCE/mQppAeGZU0o/s1600/IMG_1183.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-FNFAYDNIVJk/TpFdo0SX5mI/AAAAAAAABCE/mQppAeGZU0o/s320/IMG_1183.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Japanese make the BEST stickers. I found<br />these at a stationary store so we could make...</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-GW9ZrLzqDNA/TpFd5ai7jfI/AAAAAAAABCI/raog042-MKU/s1600/IMG_1184.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-GW9ZrLzqDNA/TpFd5ai7jfI/AAAAAAAABCI/raog042-MKU/s320/IMG_1184.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">...an apple counting book. She had to put<br />the stickers on the tree for each page.<br />We will cut the pages out and staple them.</td></tr></tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-_Vi1tinAv9U/TpFeGkaucHI/AAAAAAAABCM/wtJrMJ_pGRM/s1600/IMG_1192.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-_Vi1tinAv9U/TpFeGkaucHI/AAAAAAAABCM/wtJrMJ_pGRM/s320/IMG_1192.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Since the other two were home, Mei Mei<br />joined in the painting fun. I drew a simple<br />outline of a tree. They painted it in and added<br />apples by using their fingertips. We did this<br />in watercolor paints. (The lion outfits, are just<br />because they wanted to wear them...)</td></tr></tbody></table><div style="text-align: left;">&nbsp;My other two are on fall break this week. We will be doing some school work, but probably not as much as we would if they were in school. We plan to visit the zoo, go the beach, and some other fun things that can be "learning," too.&nbsp;</div>MaDonna Maurerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04157381592556792198noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2377501772914054212.post-13688580025524223842011-10-06T01:02:00.000-07:002011-10-06T01:03:34.162-07:00How Will You Honor Steve Jobs?Steve Jobs died today.<br /><br />I'm sure you have heard the news. It is probably the highest buzz on the social media right now. Everyone is in shock. Many want to pay tribute by posting his quotes, writing about him and his life work, and even going out to buy 1 or 2 iPhones in his honor.<br /><br />The last one bothers me.<br /><br />Who needs two iPhones? Really?<br /><br />Okay, I'm right up there with thankfulness on the blessings of having any of Apple's i(whatever). The iPad has been really helpful with our daughter with special needs. She has a new way of communicating that is affordable to us. I could go on and tell you all the wonderful things that the i(fill in the blank) has been to us personally, but that is not what this is about.<br /><br />When I read about people going out to buy an iPhone in his honor, I couldn't help but wonder if he'd really be pleased with that. From that question I wondered about what charity he was passionate about. I was surprised to find that he doesn't publicly donate. My mouth dropped, but I did some more digging, so don't judge yet because here is what I did find:<br />1. It's possible that he donated&nbsp;anonymously. His wife is on boards of a few nonprofit organizations. You can read more about that in <a href="http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2011/08/29/the-mystery-of-steve-jobss-public-giving/">this </a>article by Andrew Ross Solkin.<br />2. Bono argued in a letter to the editor that Steve Jobs did give through Product Red. You can read about that in this article <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/executive-style/management/bono-defends-jobs-record-on-charity-20110906-1juz5.html">here</a>.<br />3. Apple is a part of <a href="http://www.joinred.com/red/">Product Red</a>. Portions of all (Product)RED special edition iPod Nanos and iTune cards are given to Global Fund to help fund AIDS programs in Africa. &nbsp;For more information on this part of Apple giving click <a href="http://www.apple.com/ipod/red/">here</a>.<br /><br />So, Steve Jobs did give.<br />So, back to my question of "Would he be pleased with people buying his products in honor of him?"<br /><br />I'm not convinced that he would. From reading articles about him, I've gathered that he would love for you to buy the products to help you in your work and life, but not to honor him.<br />So, I'm challenging you with this: Wouldn't it be better to buy an i(fill in the blank) for someone that really needs it? Maybe a low income school could use a few iPads in the special ed department. Or maybe a community center could use some to help draw kids off of the streets. These are seriously at the top of my head and may seem lame, but think outside the box. Who could use one? If you don't have any ideas, there is an organization called <a href="http://www.computerswithcauses.org/computer-donation-why-us.htm">Computers with Causes</a>. Yes, you can donate a used or new iPad to them.<br /><br />My point? Why honor someone by buying for yourself? Why not honor someone buy buying for someone that maybe wouldn't be able to buy it in the first place. (and I'm not talking about your 1-year old child, either. *grinning*)<br /><br />RIP Steve Jobs!<br />Thanks for giving to the workplace, to entertainment, to the family, and to schools!MaDonna Maurerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04157381592556792198noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2377501772914054212.post-85803028772291219992011-10-03T00:01:00.000-07:002011-10-03T00:01:00.150-07:00Book Review: A Single Shard<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://t1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSxnH5DXepDkpptsJognAGht29rNPU3kpELibtd8SENSaZw8Tne" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://t1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSxnH5DXepDkpptsJognAGht29rNPU3kpELibtd8SENSaZw8Tne" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>A Single Shard</i> by Linda Sue Park</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I read this book for <a href="http://fillinthegaps100.blogspot.com/">Fill in the Gaps</a>, so you will need to click <a href="http://fillinthegaps100.blogspot.com/2011/10/single-shard-by-linda-sue-park.html">here </a>for a full review of it.&nbsp;</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div>MaDonna Maurerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04157381592556792198noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2377501772914054212.post-47094292754911392282011-09-30T00:01:00.001-07:002011-09-30T00:06:35.260-07:00Homeschool Wrap Up...ReviewThis week we reviewed letters, numbers, and some writing. I am happy to say that she remembers it all and has progressed even after not doing any school over the summer. *cheering and dancing*<br />She recognized all the uppercase letters (and tried to "say" most of the letters instead of signing them!) She knew almost all of the lowercase letters, which is great considering we haven't really worked with them before. I had her match uppercase to lowercase from Aa-Mm. She did pretty well.<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-6WisFI4gqFc/ToVlWhuepxI/AAAAAAAABBc/FOzgOLy2c_4/s1600/IMG_1178.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-6WisFI4gqFc/ToVlWhuepxI/AAAAAAAABBc/FOzgOLy2c_4/s320/IMG_1178.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">&nbsp;I found this <a href="http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=2377501772914054212">here</a>. I cut, laminated and put<br />Velcro&nbsp;on the back of the apples for Jie Jie.</td></tr></tbody></table>She recognized all the numbers from 0-10, so I will be adding to that next week and have her start counting. She seems to have an understanding of counting, but I'm not sure how accurate she is. I will do some "testing" with her on Monday, but very pleased that it is coming together.<br /><br />What I was most pleased with was her writing ability. Last spring we only worked on these strokes "|,-, /, \" and then on letters "T,t,I,i,L,l". This week she remembered the strokes, so I added "O" to challenge her. She really concentrated to stay on the yellow line. Next week, we'll continue with the "O" and begin the letters again.<br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-fZSmwF6Gpt0/ToVlJkXeTBI/AAAAAAAABBY/g8TiLSopmsE/s1600/IMG_1177.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-fZSmwF6Gpt0/ToVlJkXeTBI/AAAAAAAABBY/g8TiLSopmsE/s320/IMG_1177.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 16px; text-align: center;">Love these! Jie Jie knows to start at the green<br />dot and trace along the yellow line until the red<br />dot. I'm excited to start up the letters next week.<br />These worksheets are found&nbsp;<a href="http://abcjesuslovesme.com/learning-to-write">here</a>. I laminate them<br />and have her use a dry eraser marker.</td></tr></tbody></table>MaDonna Maurerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04157381592556792198noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2377501772914054212.post-88025472479691095842011-09-29T23:24:00.000-07:002011-09-29T23:24:21.893-07:00Taiwan Life and Fun: Moon Festival<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Moon Festival or otherwise known as Mid-Autumn Festival was celebrated September 12th this year. It is celebrated every year on the 15th day of the eighth month of the Chinese lunar calendar. This happens to be the time of year when the moon is the biggest and brightest.&nbsp;Interestingly, this year we saw the moon the night before, but on the night of the 12th the moon was hidden by clouds. Go figure!&nbsp;</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">We celebrated anyway. Families in Taiwan, typically&nbsp;barbecue together as they watch the moon.&nbsp;&nbsp;This is a picture of a family across from our balcony barbecuing on their rooftop.&nbsp;</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-q7n8L-xtvgQ/ToQeZF3QDyI/AAAAAAAABBE/VSeQ8cPtRrg/s1600/IMG_0959.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-q7n8L-xtvgQ/ToQeZF3QDyI/AAAAAAAABBE/VSeQ8cPtRrg/s320/IMG_0959.JPG" width="240" /></a><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">We did our barbecuing on our balcony. We had chicken and roasted onions and peppers. Then we added a bit American Culture with the mix, s'mores! New trick with these wonders...we used Nutella instead of chocolate bars. So. Much. Better!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-vjUSLO31Tdw/ToQek4t9zRI/AAAAAAAABBI/WOYhIm-ZKEo/s1600/IMG_0963.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-vjUSLO31Tdw/ToQek4t9zRI/AAAAAAAABBI/WOYhIm-ZKEo/s320/IMG_0963.JPG" width="240" /></a><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Another tradition is to eat something called a mooncake. It is basically a pastry with something sweet inside. Most of the time, the inside is a sugary egg filling or red bean paste. Sometimes you can find chocolate, coffee, or green tea flavored ones. I bought small ones with pineapple flavored fillings, which is the family's favorite. The picture below is of a red bean paste filling.&nbsp;</div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-kRWLwNR8gXs/ToQe8nfOW9I/AAAAAAAABBQ/hVjeX2vjpy8/s1600/IMG_1164.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-kRWLwNR8gXs/ToQe8nfOW9I/AAAAAAAABBQ/hVjeX2vjpy8/s320/IMG_1164.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The outside of the mooncake.&nbsp;</td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Q6JKfMwZnO8/ToQfIUXbtHI/AAAAAAAABBU/4e-cf_kPgqg/s1600/IMG_1173.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Q6JKfMwZnO8/ToQfIUXbtHI/AAAAAAAABBU/4e-cf_kPgqg/s320/IMG_1173.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The inside of a mooncake. They are solid and very rich!</td></tr></tbody></table>A few days before the actual festival date, our neighborhood had a party in the park for the community. Tents were set up with food and crafts for the younger crowd to enjoy. The&nbsp;amphitheater had entertainment of bands and different performances. My husband took two of the kids before supper and I took them back after supper, along with the camera!&nbsp;&nbsp;They had watched people singing and dancing...but when we got there:<br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-A7XEVOvXT5M/ToQdRmurG9I/AAAAAAAABA0/XlV-UrcpFdE/s1600/IMG_0940.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-A7XEVOvXT5M/ToQdRmurG9I/AAAAAAAABA0/XlV-UrcpFdE/s320/IMG_0940.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lion Dancers!</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-JnyG1YORL8Y/ToQdhqWykKI/AAAAAAAABA4/Rne5aBSCVrw/s1600/IMG_0941.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-JnyG1YORL8Y/ToQdhqWykKI/AAAAAAAABA4/Rne5aBSCVrw/s320/IMG_0941.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-SsTkl0tQfng/ToQdzG3IkbI/AAAAAAAABA8/J9XKqUGktxg/s1600/IMG_0942.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-SsTkl0tQfng/ToQdzG3IkbI/AAAAAAAABA8/J9XKqUGktxg/s320/IMG_0942.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Taiwan has many folk religions and temples.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Yj32Qv7fzTo/ToQeEfu2Z0I/AAAAAAAABBA/lP_WCH0KgOY/s1600/IMG_0943.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Yj32Qv7fzTo/ToQeEfu2Z0I/AAAAAAAABBA/lP_WCH0KgOY/s320/IMG_0943.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">And the gods have gone modern. They hip-hop dance!</td></tr></tbody></table>It was an interesting experience. Culturally speaking, I enjoyed watching and observing my community and their beliefs. Spiritually speaking, as a Christian, it was unsettling with all the loud music with gongs and&nbsp;cymbals clanging.<br /><div>Please note that most of these folk religions bring fear to most people. The people here are VERY superstitious and fear that the gods will "get them or their loved ones" if they don't do the right things.&nbsp;</div><div>I don't normally ask this here, but if you are a praying person, could I ask you to pray for Taiwan and for my family. We just moved to one of the districts with the most temples per square meter for our city. Every time we walk outside, we see this "fear" in the form of people in the temples, wearing "protective" symbols around their necks, and burning fake money on a regular basis.&nbsp;</div><div><br /></div><div><i>So, if you celebrated Moon Festival this year, what did you do? Or if you have a question about this festival ask and I'll try to get an answer for you.</i><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><div class="zemanta-pixie" style="height: 15px; margin-top: 10px;"><a class="zemanta-pixie-a" href="http://www.zemanta.com/" title="Enhanced by Zemanta"><img alt="Enhanced by Zemanta" class="zemanta-pixie-img" src="http://img.zemanta.com/zemified_e.png?x-id=eceac254-537e-4a48-9c8a-39357ed8da41" style="border: none; float: right;" /></a></div></div>MaDonna Maurerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04157381592556792198noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2377501772914054212.post-76684119244135676202011-09-28T00:01:00.000-07:002011-09-28T00:01:01.702-07:00September's WiPI've decided to only do a monthly "Work in Progress" report. I honestly don't have much to report in a week, but I like the accountability of having to write about what I've been writing...keeps me focused.<br />I'm currently not working on any novel *sigh*, but I'm okay with that for now, but here is what I have been doing.<br /><br />1. I've got an article for one of our local magazines that will be printed in the November issue, which I'm very excited about. I'm busy with editing and taking some fun photographs for that article. I will write more after it is published.<br /><br />2. I need to finish up my story for <a href="http://www.chickensoup.com/form.asp?cid=submit_story">Chicken Soup of the Soul</a>. I need to finish those edits and then mail it in before the deadline, which is Oct. 3. (Won't know if they buy my story until later, but submitting is the first step, right?)<br /><br />3. I made the decision to NOT do <a href="http://www.nanowrimo.org/">NaNoWriMo</a> this year. This stands for National Novel Writing Month, which always happens in November. I have something else I want to work on that is not a novel. &nbsp;If you sign up and join, I'll be cheering you on.<br /><br />Okay, that pretty much sums up my writing life this month.<br />Stay tuned for tomorrow's post, as it is about Taiwan Culture. An interesting sight I had this past month.MaDonna Maurerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04157381592556792198noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2377501772914054212.post-73950143776470348922011-09-23T02:17:00.000-07:002011-09-23T02:17:50.489-07:00Homeschool Wrap Up...Fine Motor SkillsMatthea is doing better this week, but we still have kept it really slow. She had a checkup with the doctor yesterday and he could still hear some "rattling in the lungs."<br />More medicine in our bag and away we dashed home.<br /><br />Today we had leftover&nbsp;donuts for a snack. (Yeah, not so healthy today. It is GeGe's birthday so all health food is out the window for ONE day only!) I cut hers up into bite-sized pieces and let her use her fancy chopsticks, the Edison. I bought them at a local store about a year ago thinking that she would be able to use them one day.<br />It was a great eye-hand coordination activity. Next week I'm going to have her move cotton balls from one container to another. After she masters this, I'll use something a bit smaller and heavier.<br />Below are pictures of the Edison with Pororo cartoon character and of Jie Jie using them.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-DtKpqL0AMSw/TnxNOUbuS7I/AAAAAAAABAk/5ZJbXY8nbgM/s1600/IMG_1042.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-DtKpqL0AMSw/TnxNOUbuS7I/AAAAAAAABAk/5ZJbXY8nbgM/s320/IMG_1042.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-SKkmDRrO9zc/TnxNwT5AljI/AAAAAAAABAs/0k3tTddLqz0/s1600/IMG_1036.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-SKkmDRrO9zc/TnxNwT5AljI/AAAAAAAABAs/0k3tTddLqz0/s320/IMG_1036.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ML_CBFEPGtM/TnxNeXNmosI/AAAAAAAABAo/LVEd0N_0LYE/s1600/IMG_1040.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ML_CBFEPGtM/TnxNeXNmosI/AAAAAAAABAo/LVEd0N_0LYE/s320/IMG_1040.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-XO9yb8Q3MBA/TnxN-I-rcSI/AAAAAAAABAw/RWWIp57S99A/s1600/IMG_1034.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-XO9yb8Q3MBA/TnxN-I-rcSI/AAAAAAAABAw/RWWIp57S99A/s320/IMG_1034.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>MaDonna Maurerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04157381592556792198noreply@blogger.com3